35 Flying Dov

  Captain Shedim laughed to himself. He had heard the rumors. A princess kidnapped by a dragon. Princess Sara? Oh, his lord was going to be pleased, very pleased. The annoying girl was right. If they messed with her, he would kill them.

  Captain Shedim pictured the look on the lord’s face when he returned with Princess Sara of Rishona.

  He laughed out loud, causing Cain, who was riding next to ask, “What's so funny, Captain?”

  Shedim shook his head and answered. “Never you mind. It's going to be a good day. A very good day.”

  Cain looked back at Sara, then looked over at his captain and said, “She's valuable. You know something.”

  Captain Shedim looked back, just smiled and said, "I think so, just make sure she doesn't get away, and don’t."

  Cain raised his hand. "I understand, I got that."

  Captain Shedim looked over at Cain and said, "Spread the word. I will castrate any person who lays even the slightest hand on her, and that's how I will start."

  Cain swallowed. Captain Shedim was one of the fairer captains, and Cain thought of him as a friend. As close as anyone could call a commanding officer a friend. Seeing the look in the captain’s eyes, he didn’t doubt he was serious, so answered “Yes, sir,” then he dropped back to start spreading the word.

  Captain Shedim looked ahead, a smile plastered on his face. He could not imagine life getting any better.

  An hour later, they were still riding along, and the smile was still on Captain Shedim's face, but it wasn’t as wide. He had Princess Sara of Rishona as his prisoner. The only thing that kept him from thinking he was set for life was the dragon. But that didn't matter now. He tried to tell himself. What mattered was that he got Princess Sara back to his lord.

  He would be given power. Great power. And being the man who brought her in, Captain Shedim knew that his lord rewarded those who did well in his service. Yes, he could be ruthless if you messed up, but when you did well, he rewarded you well.

  The captain wondered if possibly this could be enough to get him promoted not just as the captain of this regiment, but commander of all of the lord's armies. Shedim pictured himself leading all of his lord's men? What if his lord gave him some land? He could become a lord; that's how it used to be done. Men who did great deeds were rewarded with baronies and became lords.

  Perhaps Captain Shedim thought, yes, Lord Shedim, that would be good.

  He looked back over his shoulder and saw only two men behind Sara. Where is our weakest point? He thought, looking at the configuration of his men. No, no, we need to do something different.

  He pulled up on the reins to stop his horse and yelled, "Cain, up front with me! I want the rest of you in lines of two or three following."

  "If you wouldn't mind.” Captain Shedim waved at Sara to come between him and Cain. “Would you ride up closer with us? This way, we can keep you safe. The rest of you follow behind and watch for trouble."

  Captain Shedim, seeing his twelve men arranged, turned, and then started riding forward again. Captain Shedim, Sara, and Cain riding side by side.

  Captain Shedim wondered about asking some questions, but no. If she said something wrong, then some of the others might find out who she was. He couldn't take a chance that one of them might grab the glory. Especially someone like Dathan, who was riding in the back like he didn’t have a care in the world. He could picture Dathan stabbing him in the back and then saying that he rescued the princess. But no.

  King Shedim. The title just came to mind, but he quickly pushed it away. Men who tried to grab for too much power died quickly. If his lord knew he had that thought of being king, he would get some land, a burial plot. Shedim shoved it from his mind.

  Don't get too big for your britches. Being a lord is enough, he thought. Yes, a small barony, he sighed.

  Yes, that would be… but Captain Shedim didn’t finish that thought because he saw something he never would have imagined, and it changed everything.

  Coming down the road, flying about thirty feet above the road, just above the top of the trees, hanging in the claws of a large golden dragon was a large man in peasant robes.

  "You will let Sara go,” the voice of the dragon roared, “I will take her now."

  It was just a moment, and the large man was dropped to the ground twenty feet in front of them. The dragon flew overhead, causing the horse Captain Shedim was on to nearly bolt. A few of the men had been knocked from their horses with their horses running into the woods.

  Captain Shedim saw that any discipline his men had, fall apart. Captain Shedim saw Princess Sara fall off as her mount bucked. But he couldn't worry about her right now. There was a dragon, and this overgrown lizard wanted to take his prize.

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  When he saw the dragon landing behind his men, he felt it. The calm before the storm. The dragon took a deep breath and then blew out the weapon all dragons were known for, fire. Fire exploded and consumed half of Captain Shedim’s men.

  Besides losing half of his men, as they were consumed by fire, three others were injured when their horses bucked at the flame. Only Captain Shedim didn’t lose his mount.

  Captain Shedim looked down beside him and saw Cain standing there, holding fast to Sara’s arm. “Don’t let her get away.” He yelled and turned his horse straight at the dragon. Shedim knew very little about dragons, but if he remembered right, it took a little while for them to recharge their flame. In that time, he could try something. He drew his sword and rushed forward. Losing Sara would be his death! It would be better to go out fighting a dragon than facing his lord.

  He spurred on his horse. The horse obediently charged forward. The obedient beast willing to follow her master even to death.

  Captain Shedim raised his sword and yelled, "No!"

  In that time, Draco moved forward, and the two met. There was no fire, but the dragon quickly turned, flipping its tail around and knocking the legs out from under the horse.

  Captain Shedim fell, his horse landing on his leg and hip. The sound of his bones crunching filled his ears, with the scream of his horse and then his own scream. Pain filled his mind, and then just before losing consciousness, he looked up to see the dragon.

  "Tell my lord, he cannot have her!" And with that, the great dragon flew into the sky. The blackness took him.

  Later, when Captain Shedim awoke, he managed to pull himself out from under his horse. His one leg, he could tell, was crushed. As bad as he was, his horse was in worse shape. The animal's legs were all broken, as were many of its ribs. He looked around. Everyone was down, and he wasn’t sure if anyone was alive.

  He shook his head. It would have been better if the dragon, that stupid dragon, would have just killed me. He thought.

  Seeing the agony of his horse, Captain Shedim used what little pity he had and ended its suffering.

  There wouldn’t be any barony now, he saw with clarity the path he would live. Either he would beg for a living, or if the lord had mercy, he might be given a job where he would only need his hands. Captain Shedim thought death might be better, but he was never one to quit. Besides, he had a message to deliver. If the legends of dragons being used by the creator as messengers were true, he didn’t want his last deed in life to be disobey the dragon. He had just enough religion for that.

  As Captain Shedim was dealing with Draco, Sara managed to stand back up after being knocked from the horse. She grabbed her pack, but Cain was right there holding on to her arm with a death grip.

  Cain was paying attention to Captain Shedim, but Sara saw Dov running toward her with a short sword in his hand. Before Cain knew what hit him, he was dead on the ground.

  Dov pulled Sara’s arm free and pulled her towards the woods, shaking his head and yelling over the dragon, "I am sorry, I am so sorry. It's the only thing I could think of,"

  Sara didn’t know how to respond and just followed him into the woods. Once a little way into the forest, he stopped and threw a cloak around her, and then, pulling her almost, almost lifting her deeper into the forest.

  Sara could hear the rage of the dragon and the sound of the flames going forth, horses screaming, but as she looked up and saw Dov’s face filled with pain, she felt pity.

  Dov repeated, “It is the only thing I could think of. I found him, and he was angry.”

  “You could have been killed,” Sara said in shock, knowing what he did; Dov went looking for the dragon.

  Dov shook his head and said “Maybe! Maybe, but now go! Go and take this.”

  He pulled off the backpack, slid on a cloak closely around her, pulled the hood over her head, and put the backpack on again. He looked at her then he gave her a bag and something else. He turned her deeper into the forest and urged her to run.

  The forest was not nearly as choked with thickets as the forest she had been in before. She could tell this area had been cleared, but she didn’t stop to look closely. She ran and ran.

  Dov, she noticed, had run in a different direction, but again she couldn't consider what all that meant. What she knew was that she was grateful for all he had done. Now all she had to do was make sure she wasn't recaptured by Draco.

  Into the frying pan, into the fire, she told herself once again. She could not believe what had been happening. Once again, things changed and changed quickly. But she ran, not worrying as much about the sound of men dying in the distance or the sound of the dragon taking to the air, yelling, “Where are you?”

  Sara still couldn't believe the dragon could talk. All of that time making David interpret for you, and you could speak the whole time. Sara realized now wasn't the time to get angry; now was the time to keep moving.

  She ran until she was tired but kept going. She wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but Sara realized she was lost.

  She no longer heard the dragon, and she wondered aloud, “Am I finally free?”

  She looked around and thought, free to do what? She didn’t know where she was, the dragon was still looking for her, and maybe some twisted tyrant of a lord.

  Listening, Sara heard a stream ahead, so she pressed on to find it. As Sara came up to the stream, she decided that now was as good a time as any to get something to drink. She was very thirsty.

  As tired as she was, she still took time to look up and around. She assumed the trees would give enough cover from the dragon, so she knelt at the stream. She took up a small handful and touched it to her lips. It didn't taste bad, so she took a drink and then another, then she decided to sit and open the bag that Dov had given her.

  She sat then put the staff down beside her. As she looked at the staff, she laughed. She hadn't even realized that Dov had given her the staff, but considering how crazy things were when Draco and Dov dropped in, she wasn’t surprised.

  Seeing Draco holding Dov by his claws, Sara guessed that if they hadn’t found her, then maybe Draco was planning to let him go higher than the twenty to thirty feet from the ground that he did.

  Sara was amazed now that she thought about it. By dropping Dov off like he did in front and then attacking from behind, Draco distracted the soldiers long enough so that Dov could spirit her away.

  Sara cringed thinking about how angry Draco would be when he found out that Dov helped her escape. Thinking about how she escaped, reminded Sara that Dov had given her a bag along with the staff.

  As she opened the bag and saw some bread, cheese, an extra wine skin, a compass, and a small note. Sara took the note out and saw that the words were written in a very precise script. If Dov had written this, then he was more educated than Sara would have expected a traveling merchant to be. Sara was starting to suspect that Dov was a lot more than he appeared. When she read the note, she was convinced that the man was a lot more than he appeared, though the note didn’t clear up what else that might be.